A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article eight, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requirements for
home school instruction; study on home school instruction; and
collecting data on home school instruction.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:That section one, article eight, chapter eighteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

§18-8-1. Commencement and termination of compulsory school attendance; exemptions.Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the school year
in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to the first day of
September of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported
kindergarten program and continue to the sixteenth birthday.Exemption from the foregoing requirements of compulsory public
school attendance shall be made on behalf of any child for the
following causes or conditions, each such cause or condition being
subject to confirmation by the attendance authority of the county:Exemption A. Instruction in a private, parochial or other
approved school. -- Such instruction shall be in a school approved
by the county board of education and for a time equal to the school
term of the county for the year. In all such schools it shall be
the duty of the principal or other person in control, upon the
request of the county superintendent of schools, to furnish to the
county board of education such information and records as may be
required with respect to attendance, instruction and progress of
pupils enrolled between the entrance age and sixteen years;Exemption B. Instruction in home or other approved place. --
(a) Such instruction shall be in the home of such child or children
or at some other place approved by the county board of education
and for a time equal to the school term of the county. If such
request for home instruction is denied by the county board of
education, good and reasonable justification for such denial must be furnished in writing to the applicant by the county board of
education. The instruction in such cases shall be conducted by a
person or persons who, in the judgment of the county superintendent
and county board of education, are qualified to give instruction in
subjects required to be taught in the free elementary schools of
the state. It shall be the duty of the person or persons providing
the instruction, upon request of the county superintendent, to
furnish to the county board of education such information and
records as may be required from time to time with respect to
attendance, instruction and progress of pupils enrolled between the
entrance age and sixteen years receiving such instruction. The
state department of education shall develop guidelines for the home
schooling of special education students including alternative
assessment measures to assure that satisfactory academic progress
is achieved.(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
Exemption B, the person or persons providing home instruction meet
the requirements for Exemption B when the conditions of this
subsection are met: Provided, That the county superintendent shall
have the right to seek from the circuit court of the county an
order denying the home instruction, which order may be granted upon
a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the child will
suffer educational neglect or that there are other compelling reasons to deny home instruction.(1) The person or persons providing home instruction present
to the county superintendent or county board of education a notice
of intent to provide home instruction and the name and address of
any child of compulsory school age to be instructed: Provided,
That if a child is enrolled in a public school, notice of intent to
provide home instruction shall be given at least two weeks prior to
withdrawing such child from public school;(2) The person or persons providing home instruction submit
satisfactory evidence of: (i) A high school diploma or equivalent;
and (ii) formal education at least four years higher than the most
academically advanced child for whom the instruction will be
provided: Provided, That during the school year two thousand - two
thousand one only, the requirement of a formal education at least
four years higher than the most academically advanced child is
waived;(3) The person or persons providing home instruction outline
a plan of instruction for the ensuing school year; and(4) The person or persons providing home instruction shall
annually obtain an academic assessment of the child for the
previous school year. This shall be satisfied in one of the
following ways:(i) Any child receiving home instruction annually takes a standardized test, to be administered at a public school in the
county where the child resides, or administered by a licensed
psychologist or other person authorized by the publisher of the
test, or administered by a person authorized by the county
superintendent or county board of education. The child shall be
administered a test which has been normed by the test publisher on
that child's age or grade group. In no event may the child's
parent or legal guardian administer the test. Where a test is
administered outside of a public school, the child's parent or
legal guardian shall pay the cost of administering the test. The
public school or other qualified person shall administer to
children of compulsory school age the comprehensive test of basic
skills, the California achievement test, the Stanford achievement
test or the Iowa tests of basic skills, achievement and
proficiency, or an individual standardized achievement test that is
nationally normed and provides statistical results which test will
be selected by the public school, or other person administering the
test, in the subjects of language, reading, social studies, science
and mathematics and shall be administered under standardized
conditions as set forth by the published instructions of the
selected test. No test shall be administered if the publication
date is more than ten years from the date of the administration of
the test. Each child's test results shall be reported as a national percentile for each of the five subjects tested. Each
child's test results shall be made available on or before the
thirtieth day of June of the school year in which the test is to be
administered to the person or persons providing home instruction,
the child's parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent.
Upon request of a duly authorized representative of the West
Virginia department of education, each child's test results shall
be furnished by the person or persons providing home instruction,
or by the child's parent or legal guardian, to the state
superintendent of schools. Upon notification of the mean of the
child's test results for any single year has fallen below the
fortieth percentile, the county board of education shall notify the
parents or legal guardian of said child, in writing, of the
services available to assist in the assessment of the child's
eligibility for special education services: Provided, That the
identification of a disability shall not preclude the continuation
of home schooling.If the mean of the child's test results for any single year
for language, reading, social studies, science and mathematics fall
below the fortieth percentile on the selected tests, then the
person or persons providing home instruction shall initiate a
remedial program to foster achievement above that level and the
student shall show improvement. If, after two calendar years, the mean of the child's test results fall below the fortieth percentile
level, home instruction shall no longer satisfy the compulsory
school attendance requirement exemption; or(ii) The county superintendent is provided with a written
narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's
work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for
the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. This
narrative shall be prepared by a certified teacher or other person
mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the county
superintendent. It shall be submitted on or before the thirtieth
day of June of the school year covered by the portfolio. The
parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for payment of fees
charged for the narrative; or(iii) Evidence of an alternative academic assessment of the
child's proficiency mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal
guardian and the county superintendent is submitted to the county
superintendent by the thirtieth day of June of the school year
being assessed. The parent or legal guardian shall be responsible
for payment of fees charged for the assessment.(c) The superintendent or a designee shall offer such
assistance, including textbooks, other teaching materials and
available resources, as may assist the person or persons providing
home instruction subject to their availability. Any child receiving home instruction may, upon approval of the county board
of education, exercise the option to attend any class offered by
the county board of education as the person or persons providing
home instruction may deem appropriate subject to normal
registration and attendance requirements.(d) The legislative oversight commission on education
accountability shall conduct a study on the effects of the home
instruction exemption on the students being instructed in the home.
The study shall include, but is not limited to, the effects that a
home instructor's education attainment level has on the academic
abilities of the child instructed. As part of the study, the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability shall
collect data relating to students who are instructed under the home
school exception, including, but not limited to, assessment test
scores or performance on other assessment mechanisms, the number of
students who are instructed under the home school exemption, the
grade level at which the students are being instructed and the age
of the students: Provided, That the names of the students shall not
be collected. The legislative oversight commission shall collect
the data and complete the study on or before the first day of
December, two thousand.Exemption C. Physical or mental incapacity. -- Physical or
mental incapacity shall consist of incapacity for school attendance and the performance of school work. In all cases of prolonged
absence from school due to incapacity of the child to attend, the
written statement of a licensed physician or authorized school
nurse shall be required under the provisions of this article:
Provided, That in all cases incapacity shall be narrowly defined
and in no case shall the provisions of this article allow for the
exclusion of the mentally, physically, emotionally or behaviorally
handicapped child otherwise entitled to a free appropriate
education;Exemption D. Residence more than two miles from school or
school bus route. -- The distance of residence from a school, or
school bus route providing free transportation, shall be reckoned
by the shortest practicable road or path, which contemplates travel
through fields by right of permission from the landholders or their
agents. It shall be the duty of the county board of education,
subject to written consent of landholders, or their agents, to
provide and maintain safe foot bridges across streams off the
public highways where such are required for the safety and welfare
of pupils whose mode of travel from home to school or to school bus
route must necessarily be other than along the public highway in
order for said road or path to be not over two miles from home to
school or to school bus providing free transportation;Exemption E. Hazardous conditions. -- Conditions rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous to the life, health or
safety of the child;Exemption F. High school graduation. -- Such exemption shall
consist of regular graduation from a standard senior high school;Exemption G. Granting work permits. -- The county
superintendent may, after due investigation, grant work permits to
youths under sixteen years of age, subject to state and federal
labor laws and regulations: Provided, That a work permit may not
be granted on behalf of any youth who has not completed the eighth
grade of school;Exemption H. Serious illness or death in the immediate family
of the pupil. -- It is expected that the county attendance director
will ascertain the facts in all cases of such absences about which
information is inadequate and report same to the county
superintendent of schools;Exemption I. Destitution in the home. -- Exemption based on
a condition of extreme destitution in the home may be granted only
upon the written recommendation of the county attendance director
to the county superintendent following careful investigation of the
case. A copy of the report confirming such condition and school
exemption shall be placed with the county director of public
assistance. This enactment contemplates every reasonable effort
that may properly be taken on the part of both school and public assistance authorities for the relief of home conditions officially
recognized as being so destitute as to deprive children of the
privilege of school attendance. Exemption for this cause shall not
be allowed when such destitution is relieved through public or
private means;Exemption J. Church ordinances; observances of regular church
ordinances. -- The county board of education may approve exemption
for religious instruction upon written request of the person having
legal or actual charge of a child or children: Provided, That such
exemption shall be subject to the rules prescribed by the county
superintendent and approved by the county board of education;Exemption K. Alternative private, parochial, church or
religious school instruction. -- In lieu of the provisions of
Exemption A herein above, exemption shall be made for any child
attending any private school, parochial school, church school,
school operated by a religious order or other nonpublic school
which elects to comply with the provisions of article twenty-eight,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia.The completion of the eighth grade shall not exempt any child
under sixteen years of age from the compulsory attendance provision
of this article: Provided, That there is a public high school or
other public school of advanced grades or a school bus providing
free transportation to any such school, the route of which is within two miles of the child's home by the shortest practicable
route or path as hereinbefore specified under Exemption D of this
section.